Name: HW – Rights Ethics Chapter
ETHICS HW on Rights Ethics

Choose one of the following questions (A or B) and respond to it briefly.
1. Ask someone a philosophical question.
a. What did you ask?
b. How did they respond?
c. What happened next?
2. Look at something in a new way (maybe through the lens of a philosopher or a topic in our class).
a. What did you look at?
b. What was new about the way you looked at it?

3. (Recap) Respond to at least one of the following questions:
a. What is a specific question (related to our class) that stands out to you at the moment (from class, the reading, etc.)? Why does it stand out?
b. What statement, made by another student, stands out to you at the moment? Why does it stand out?
c. What is one concept on which you gained clarity in our most recent class? What is one concept that is still unclear for you, and how can you go about clarifying it?

Life, Liberty, Property, Justice (as fairness & deserving)
Use these concepts as much as possible in your responses. Think: What is the BEST way to promote these concepts? 

4. What, do you think, is the purpose of government? (Use some of the concepts above in your response.)

5. If somebody says “Hey, I have rights,” what do you think they mean by rights? Provide at least two examples. (Use those concepts again.)

6. Who is supposed to watch out for (stand up for) the rights of marginalized groups? Of animals? Of the earth? Explain. (Use those concepts again.)

7. After reading through the section on “Moral Versus Legal Rights,” briefly explain the difference between moral rights and legal rights in your own words. Provide an example (one from the text, or one of your own) that illustrates the difference between them.

8. What do you think of John Locke’s notion of property and his concept of “spoilage” or “waste land”? Boss writes, “Locke was particularly contemptuous of the ‘several nations of the [Native] Americans’ who did nothing to ‘improve’ the land.” Do you agree with his notion of property? Do you think that land needs to be “improved” by humans to attain worth? Can undeveloped land have value in your opinion? Explain.

9. How was Karl Marx’s view of property and ownership different from Locke’s? Is his view different from the way you think of property and ownership? Explain using examples or an analogy.

10. Boss writes, “Respecting human rights on an international level involves respecting cultural diversity and national self-determination. On the other hand, respect for the equal rights of all people also involves a duty to protest cultural practices that trample upon the most basic human rights of certain groups of people, thereby depriving them of dignity.” (p. 362 in 6th ed.) Do you agree with Boss? Explain using terms/concepts from the reading and/or from previous chapters.

11. Boss suggests, that according to Buddhism, “All living beings, not just humans, have a correlative right not to be harmed. The right to be treated with respect and not to be harmed extends not just to humans but to all of nature.” Do you agree? Explain using terms/concepts from the reading.

4) (Synthesis) Think, and then write about liberty & property and how these two concepts are of central importance to understanding Hobbes, Locke, Rand, or Marx. OR – Select at least one question from the “Exercises” in these chapters and provide a thorough response. (Choose a question that you find both interesting and challenging.)

Name: HW – Egoism Chapter
ETHICS HW on Egoism
1) What, in your own words, is pleasure?

a. What is the difference between an immediate pleasure and a long-term pleasure? Provide examples. Is one of them better than the other?

b. What is the relationship between pleasure and happiness? (Think well on this – what would ultimately give you the greatest pleasure?)

2) Think of a time when you did something for somebody else, that is, when you did something altruistic. Use that as an example, and consider this: Were you actually acting in your own self-interest even in the act of doing something for somebody else?

a. Is it ever possible to truly act in the interest of others?

b. How would Ayn Rand respond to this question? (See the excerpt from The Fountainhead.)

3) Come up with an example (from your life, film, or the media) of a person who acts in own self-interest (or at least they think they are doing so).

4) Come up with an example of a person who acts in the interest of others (or the community).

5) Which of these two people do you think is happier? Why?

6) Do you agree with Adam Smith and laissez-faire capitalism? Explain. (Use the concepts of Life, Liberty, Property, & Justice here again.)

7) Now read through some of the critiques of laissez-faire capitalism. Describe one of the critiques & explain whether or not you agree with it. (Use the concepts of Life, Liberty, Property, & Justice here again.)

8) Now, think of a sweatshop in which people (perhaps even children) work in poor conditions and receive very little compensation for their work.
a. What would a laissez-faire capitalist say about this situation? Explain. (Use those concepts.)

b. How would a Marxist respond? Explain. (Use those concepts.)

c. Which would you agree with more – the capitalist or the Marxist? Explain & provide strong justification using support from the reading. (Use those concepts.)

9) Select an image, cartoon, or quote from the Rights Ethics or Egoism chapter. Write a statement or question that captures your understanding of the significance of this image/cartoon/quote as it relates to the reading overall. Use an example or create an analogy to elaborate upon your initial statement/question.